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About Pam Kueber

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We found an Estate sale about 1/2 mile from our house. Looked to be picked over by the time we got there, which was surprising for a Friday. We got some cupcake liners, a cook cupcake pan, and Nikki got a nice little vintage nightie.

I’ve had the whole week off. It’s spring break and my girlfriend is a teacher so I took the week off too. We were planning on taking a trip to New Orleans in the hopes of selling alot of my “extra” retro stuff, but it just didn’t work out. Last Oct. I was able to pay for 4 days 3 nights by selling using Craigslist. This time…zilch. I guess times ARE tough. ::shrug::

I spent the last few days repainting a few pieces of my mid mod patio furniture. Two Bertoia diamond chairs ($70/pair-wow) and a pair of Homecrest side chairs. I have alot more to paint. I want them all to match. Satin Black metal and red cushions and umbrella. Big project.

Tonight we went to the opening night of the local Drive Inn (Sky View – has a Really cool retro sign!). You get a double feature for $9! Monsters Vs. Aliens. Not too bad, you know, for a kids movie. Hotel For Dogs. We packed up and left about 1/4 way through. Real Bad. We go to the drive in about 15 times a year. LOVE it.

I’m hoping that tomorrow I will finally be selling and riding myself of my old rattan / bamboo living room set (but you know how selling on C-list goes) and then setting up my “new” Paul Frankl rattan / bamboo set. It’s got those cool wide arms made from like six wide bands of bamboo that are shaped like a trapazoid when viewed from the side. Straight out of a Shag painting!

Thanks for the advice on the trees; I am in Zone 8, so the Japanese Maple does fine here and in fact, the woman up the street has two in her yard that are lovely. I am just afraid that my yard is too wide open and the poor thing would never get enough shade in our brutal summer (brutal from June-beginning of Sept). But I hear different things.

I’d prefer a tree with no fruit; someone suggested the Acer Maple which isn’t has gorgeous as the Japanese but still cute and small and much more hardy in the sun.

All sorts of surprises are coming out this Spring—the original owner was quite the green thumb and the backyard is just full of flowering shrubs and trees!

Kristin, I have no idea if it will work for you but I’ve been thinking about planting a Ginko tree or two. I noticed one down the street from my girlfriends place last summer and am quite smitten. I also LOVE the Quaking Aspen, very atomic ranch retro.

Holy crap…it’s snowing again….like, really really Snowing. It has been SO nice all week long. 60’s and 70’s! Now we are supposed to get about 4-6 inches of snow tonight! ::shrug:: St. Louis weather.

Hey Scurl, you into vintage automatic washers and dryers too? My greatest disappointment over the last few years is letting a Pink – Lady Kenmore washer get away ($175 – excellent cond.). I now have a matching set of late 60’s early 70’s Harvest Gold Maytags. They’ll do until I find something a little earlier and cooler.

Kristin,
I would die to have an inside built-in planter! Unfortunately, all our built-in planters are outside.

If I had one indoors, I would plant aglaonemas (Chinese evergreen) and sanseverias (mother-in-law’s-tongue). Both tolerate very low light and the sanseveria is totally retro. And both have variegated foliage, so they light up a darker space. Another retro plant is pothos, but it grows in long vines, so it may not be as suitable for your space.

Oh Elvis Jane, it is an outside one! It is a low one that runs as a wrap-around from the porch down the length of the outside of our living room underneath all the windows…some other houses on the street have them, but they tend to be the older folks who haven’t been able to tend them in awhile.
I picked out Canna lillies as they attract hummingbirds, who come out a lot in the summer here. Last year there was a bunch of pick and white Lantana and it just was too ugly. I want something a bit more tropical and/or Asian.

Hit another estate sale this morning. Two in one weekend, and to think I’d never been to one before, they seem scarce in these parts. Got some cool drinking glasses and an old 8mm camera. We took pics of the bathroom too, all blue fixtures with a supercool starburst wallpaper.

Kathismom—Think Green, Go Vintage! My vintage Hotpoint set me back about $135 including delivery. You could buy genuine vintage for about that same price, have it totally checked out / recharged, have it CUSTOM painted (if it even needs painting) AND have an ice maker custom installed for way less than a new retro fridge. I’ve even seen really nice ones here in St. Louis for free on C-list.

But for real, why even have an ice maker? I have a half dozen aluminum ice trays that are SO much fun to use! I keep a cleaned out gallon ice cream bucket filled with ice cubes “at the ready”.

Jeanne,
Yes, you can paint those copper hinges as I was in the same boat as you and couldn’t find replacement chrome ones that would line up with our existing drilled holes so I thought “What the heck, why not try it” and I’m really happy with how they turned out. I used the Rustoleum Silver Metallic paint from Walmart (only $3.97 or something like that) and it’s working great. If you do it, just remember to be patient and add several layers of very lightly painted coats and it works great!

We had really crappy weather here Saturday so I didn’t get to work on them ’til yesterday but, I got my cabinet doors cleaned, drilled the handle holes a little larger to fit my 50s chrom handles and painted the hinges. Will put them all back together tonight after work.

We also got our cool 1950’s pink light fixture (that I got off Ebay)hung in the kitchen yesterday and I love it; it will be a BIG adjustment to get used to the “lower lighting” but we like it. We took down a huge flourescent light that I couldn’t stand so it is less lighting but much more fabulous! Of course, this unfortunately created another project in our kitchen revamp due to our plumbing horror, and now the hubby has to patch and repair the ceiling under the flourescent box fixture and this will mean he’s going to have to paint the kitchen and dining room ceilings as they join together… pray he doesn’t kill me! LOL!

Oh, for those interested, I did go to my favorite church’s annual garage sale on Saturday morning (even though it was pouring rain and the wind could almost blow you away) and was first in line! Luckily, they have a covered sidewalk where we wait (me in my portable chair, flashlight and good book) and the church workers told me they were “glad to see I was first in line again, as they counted on me”!

I got some great stuff:
A glass covered Turquoise Pyrex baking dish (the large one that I didn’t have) for $3.00, an old pink mixing bowl that I can’t quite make out the name but it starts with an “S” and Made in the USA for $3.00; hand embroidered purse $0.25, package of buttons for crafting $0.25, 2 pair of Lands Ends Slip on shoes for the hubby for $0.25 each (yep, that’s right; a quarter a pair…he loves ’em); a cute Hurley scarf for $0.25; a bandanda print scarf $0.25; 50’s Pyrex small syrup size pitcher for $0.25 (has the black handle with diamond shapes in gold on the sides); a set of silver & copper bangles for $0.25; and a amethyst (faux) and pearl necklace for $0.50 and I spent a grand total of $10.50! I already can’t wait ’til next years’ sale!

Oh…yeah…
Did some ‘Retro Renovation’ on (age 10) Parker’s hair…I gave him a flat-top!
Came up with names for Bowling Teams (Family Fun League is two-person teams of one adult and one junior). Parker and I are the Atomic Punks (there was a Van Halen tune). Uniform is apparently to be really loud red and white aloha shirts as we already have a matching pair-and cuffed trousers.
Chloe and Laura are now the Bombin’ Bettys (you know, early-60’s surfer slang for a hottie based on Betty Rubble’s physique). Blouses and pleated bowling skirts with bobby sox.
Got some flat AWESOME goodies at the second Goodwill we ended up stopping at.
Dave

Kristin,
We planted our outside planters with trailing rosemary on the hot south side, and dwarf sarcocca (sweet box) in the very deep shade on our west side. The first year we had impatiens but most annuals and perenniels won’t grow there due to the shade and the narrowness of the planters.

Cannas would be great and very asian. How about some bamboo? It’s year-round here in Portland, and it’s perfect for a confined space where it can’t get away from you.

That is funny because we moved here (well, back here for me) from Portland!

Bamboo would be cool! I got two kinds of cannas to put in and those pink/white/green members of the elephant ear family. I am also getting some bigger elephant ears also. I think some bamboo would be a great addition; could block out some of that strong PM sun but the cats/dog (and us) could still look through it.

Sara in WA. I live in Vegas (Uncle Jack is a friend and neighbor) and can recommend a couple of wonderful neighborhoods. I live just a bit north and east of the Stratosphere. If you take St. Louis east from the Stratosphere and turn north at Rexford, you’ll be in my 1950s neighborhood. Wander north and east and you’ll keep finding more stuff. Definitely check out Jack’s VeryVintageVegas.com. He can give you more info. Have fun!